Good Time To Go Out To Eat On A Budget…….

Times are getting harder for restaurants and their falling business. Restaurants are trying to get people in the door anyway possible, going online to Restaurants.com to offer coupons to customers. The Wall Street Journal posted a article called Dining Out on Deals, the articles states “Technomic, a Chicago restaurant consultant, predicts no restaurant-industry growth for 2009, following 2% growth in 2008. Special offers are the rare thing getting people in the door these days: In the quarter that ended in August, 23% of all restaurant visits occurred because diners wanted to take advantage of some kind a deal — a 9% increase in deal-driven visits over the previous year, according to NPD Group, a market-research firm.” Wow! When your working in it, you never really know just how bad it is. It’s becoming very common in the lower states and big city restaurants to join online discount sites.
In Fairbanks on the other hand I don’t really see these sites really hitting home in the restaurant community. Many just post a add or coupon in the local newspaper. This will see a larger response than any online site. Some radio stations in town are doing 50/50 Tuesday where customers can receive 50% off gift certificates to many local businesses in town. With many questions and no answers, who really knows where local restaurants are going to go to push in customers. Fairbanks is in it’s own little bubble for the time being, maybe can ride out the storm a little longer. May I take your ordered?

If the Bird is Burnt?

I’m off! My restaurant is closed this Thanksgiving, but if your mom burnt the turkey there are a few restaurants that are open today. Pike’s Landing is having a Thanksgiving buffet for the family tonight. The Pump House is also having a buffet and The Silver Gulch Brewing and Bar is open for business out in Fox. They have the same great menu as always! Many people have family and friends, but if you want some warm food and friends, these restaurants would love your business. May I not take your order?

A Whale of a Tail….

Did you know, after a 20-year ban on commercial whaling, Iceland in 2006 resumed limited hunting of minke whale, one of the smallest and most numerous of the main whale species stated by The Wall Street Journal, article Supersize Me: Whale Meat Resurfaces on Iceland Menus.
“Whale was once among the least expensive mammal meats Icelanders could buy. We ate a lot of it back when we were all poor, says Gudlaug Thora Kristinsdottir, a cashier at Reykjavik’s popular Saegreifinn seafood shack”. Many want to make it a staple food for everyone. The Wall Street Journal states “Mr. Jonsson, 30 years old, wants whale to become more than comfort food for retirees and a novelty item for visitors.” Wow, I never thought that a restaurant would put whale on the menu and people would actually eat it, seems so wrong. On the other hand I’m from Alaska and it isn’t that far fetched, especially this time of year.
Alaskan Thanksgiving Feast: Whale Meat Posted on CBS news site, November 18, 2006 talks about Alaska’s native villages and what they eat for Thanksgiving.  ”tables this year will be set with store-bought turkey and all the trimmings. But alongside will be delicacies such as reindeer stew, moose roast, stuffed moose heart and whale-blubber salad. For dessert, there might be akutaq, which is whipped animal or vegetable fat that is mixed with sugar, berries and sometimes fish.” In our back yard people are eating whale and probably never think twice, it’s a normal day. I spend my days running to school and work and haven’t really thought about the people and communities that are outside the “Big city.” When I’m sitting down to eat turkey many people, just miles away, are eating whale and whale-blubber salad. What a wonderful, diverse state I live in. May I take your order?

 

What Are You Doing This Thanksgiving?

As a server I enjoy my Thanksgiving night off, me and my boyfriend have many stops to make in one day (his family’s house and mine, the restaurant). Which means we eat about five times that day. We hangout talk and eat, but many people don’t have a option of where they are getting their Thanksgiving meal. Just recently I noticed people standing at intersections, asking for food and money. Where do these people go? Many homeless go to the Fairbanks Rescue Mission for a hot dinner and a warm. The soup kitchen always puts on a good meal with good company. Someone else is also giving back, Bobby’s Downtown is feeding some FCC men that have no other option of where they are getting their meal. Their doors are closed to the public, but open to some men that are hungry and looking for a good meal.
When I’m sharing good laughs with my friends and family the owners of Bobbys are going to be working hard to please people they have never even met. This is one of many reasons I will be stopping by to lend hand on my Thanksgiving. May I take your order?

Local Servers Response To the Big Pink Elephant In The Room.. … ..

The podcast that is posted above was created to discuss the topic of the recession and how it’s effecting the local servers around Fairbanks. As a server, I’m worried about making my rent check at the start of every month. The tables are getting fewer and more in-between. My nights at work have grown shorter and shorter and my pocketbook smaller and smaller. What are we going to do as servers? Here is what they had to say about the pink elephant…… May I take your order?

Put Down and Step Back From the Oreo’s!

With less people eating out at restaurants and eating at home more often, I thought I would write about improving what goes into all of our shopping carts and mouths. I was reading in the Local Daily News-Miner “Working the market: How to shop to stay healthy” the article gives simple tips to grocery shopping in a healthy manner.

• The biggest tip is “Be label conscious. Who are we kidding? I know you’re not going to study the food label like you would the new fall line of your favorite designer, but at the very least you need to glance at the ingredient list”.  Consumers should be aware of what is being put in the shopping carts and their bodies.
• “Get in and get out. You’ve heard it before: shopping with a list prevents straying”. Stay with a plan and you are not liking to stray from that plan.
• Eat before going groceryshopping. A empty stomach, makes a full cart ( of stuff that isn’t healthy and also expensiveve).
• “Buy seasonal and local. Why are seasonal and local products optimal? First, they taste better and fresher. Second, they’re more nutritious”. For Alaskans this time of year isn’t the best to buy local, but you could always buy organic (which is more expensive). It’s a good option!
• Try something new every week! I recently started eating meatless, soy-less, chicken patties and love them. They taste just like the real thing and are much better for you!

Hey, I know I’m writing about the grocery store and not a dining room, but times are changing and pocket books are getting tighter. Just remember if you burn the meatloaf you can always come and dine at my restaurant. I will be there waiting to take your order. May I take your order?

What’s a Girl to do?

As my shifts at work seem to be getting shorter and shorter, with less and less tables a night, my pocket book is getting smaller as well. I went shopping for groceries on Monday and bought just two bags of food and spent $47.15. I’m trying to eat healthy and try to buy organic, but when organic eggs ring up at $5.39. I am at a lost. The restaurant I work at is higher end and we don’t run a  nightly special, so I believe people are eating at fast food joints instead of buying higher quality food at a restaurant. Value meals sound a lot better then a $20.00 plate of food at a nice restaurant, specially to larger families.
The New York Magazine wrote a article titled “Money Is Tight, and Junk Food Beckons” published on November 3, 2008. the article is very insightful in to middle-class families trying to eat healthy. “ Studies show that junk foods tend to cost less than fruits, vegetables and other healthful foods, whose prices continue to rise”. I believe that middle-class families in Alaska are feeling the recession even more then families in the lower 48. Alaskans’ produce is two times more expensive then that of the rest of the country. When Alaskans’ have to eat on a budget it seems like fast food would be cheaper then a bag of apples.
A study found in The New York Time found “Last year, Dr. Drewnowski led a study, published in The Journal of the American Dietetic Association, comparing the prices of 370 foods sold at supermarkets in the Seattle area. The study showed that “energy dense” junk foods, which pack the most calories and fewest nutrients per gram, were far less expensive than nutrient-rich, lower-calorie foods like fruits and vegetables. The prices of the most healthful foods surged 19.5 percent over the two-year study period, while the junk food prices dropped 1.8 percent”. As a consumer and server, I’m walking into the unknown. As society we are walking into the unknown. May I take your order?

The “Great Pumpkin” That Makes The Pie…..

I want to know what people do with their old  Halloween pumpkins. I know many people that leave the poor, orange, slimming, flesh ball in their front yard till spring comes. Some kids enjoy kicking the frozen orange ball down the street until it breaks into pieces. But can you make a pumpkin pie from the old craved pumpkin? Weird question, I know but I have never made pie from a real pumpkin. My pies always come from a fresh can. When doing a a little research I found a website  How to make a real pumpkin pie from a real pumpkin-not from a can!. This website was very informative and and even had some wonderful pictures to help you through the process of making the pie. 
Where does someone go when they don’t feel like making a pie at home? Most buy frozen discs and put it in the oven and call it pie, but where can you go in Fairbanks and get some really good pumpkin pie? I enjoy Pikes Landing desserts. They are all handmade by a small man named Fran. He loves making desserts and he is always trying to come up with something new to put on the dessert menu. He makes great pumpkin pie. He makes pumpkin pie only this time of year, but year round you can always expect something good on the dessert tray! Pikes Landing has lost it’s connection with good food a long time ago, but something the owner has not cut back on is the desserts.
The Hilltop restaurant is also another place to find great homemade pie (pumpkin pie is the best). It’s a drive to get to the Hilltop, but well worth the gas. The pieces of pie are huge and I have never been able to finish my dessert. The Hilltop desserts are well worth the calories too! May I take your order?

Do Calories Count?

As someone that loves to got out to eat I find myself having a hard time losing weight. I have always been very thoughtful about how I prepare my food at home, and try to eat as healthy as possible most of the time. When I go out to eat, though, all bets are off. I recently was reading an article by The New York Time Magazine that was titled Calories Do Count. The article brought up some very good points about restaurants and the often high calorie count of the foods they serve. In New York city, restaurants that have 15 or more stores are being made (by law) to post how many calories are in their products. The articles says that ”For some establishments, having their menus exposed by the New York law forced some caloric housecleaning. At Le Pain Quotidien, which has 17 outlets in New York, several items were changed or taken off the menu, said Jack Moran, a vice president.”

I’m of two minds about this issue.  As a consumer and customer, I have to agree with the new law. I want to know if the dish I’m ordering has 1,560 calories in it. So, maybe I won’t order that cheesecake for dessert… I know as a customer that eating great food has a risk, but how big of a risk am I taking? Ignorance is bliss. Restaurants will have to start thinking about the product they are putting out for the public to eat.

As a a server I believe that many people will not order some of the more expensive items on the menu (Rib-eye, Prime Rib, Lamb chops, pastas) if they were aware of their high calorie counts. This means less tips! People may avoid certain restaurants and skip out on dessert and appetizers.

Well, I guess I can’t have my cake and eat too!

Here is a interview with a fellow server…

May I take your order?

What do you want?

I recently went out with my boyfriend to a local Chinese food restaurant. We had to drive 20 minutes to get there, but we really enjoy their food. I have been trying to cut back on eating junk food and scanned the menu up and down to find something healthy to have for dinner. I noticed the menu said “steamed dishes also available” I thought to myself this would be a good alternative. When the server arrived, I started to tell her what I wanted. Her response was to look at me like I was talking Russian and then wrote it down violently on her ticket. After ordering I said I was sorry for being so difficult and her response was “The Pu Pu Platter would cancel everything out either way”. What’s the deal? All I wanted was my veggies steamed. This is something the chefs will have to deal with, the only thing she has to do is write a little more on her ticket. Why did it bother her so much?
This got me thinking about people that have special dietary needs. Do they always have a hard time dining out? What about vegetarians, vegans and people with deathly allergies? This situation got me to thinking about a table I had this past summer. The diners were an older couple and the lady was allergic to gluten. Which basically means she is allergic to everything. I was super busy and did not have time to see what ingredients were in every meal. The lady pulled out this card that let the kitchen know everything that she could eat and things she could not. It was awesome, the kitchen knew exactly what the lady could eat and what she would die from consuming.  No gray area! I think this is a wonderful idea for anyone that has a bad allergy to a specific food.
If you’re a vegan or vegetarian you can always ask the server to recommend somehing from the menu. The server knows whats good and what should fit into your dietary needs. If your a vegan you may have to explain what you can eat and what you can not. In the end the server wants to keep you happy and alive! May I take your order?